the Croisette comes alive with its weather, its photographers and… Bollywood

Cannes starts at Gare de Lyon. On the platforms and especially in the TGV, car 16 more precisely. The French language is a minority, English and Hindi are the most spoken languages. Open PCs and MacBook Pros, crowded train. Direction the Croisette.

The other country of cinema, India, is represented in force in the wagon. A group of eighteen teachers from several Indian cities travels to the Croisette for an internship. “Cinema is included in our training. We will watch a lot of films and comment on them”, explains one of them, who specifies that four other teachers are already there. “Twenty-two female teachers in all is nothing in the Indian context”, another has fun. Time is definitely relative. The five hours of the trip pass quickly, between clips and Bollywood excerpts (the song Jhoome Jo Pathaan with Shah Ruh Kan and Deepika tops the replays).

Sachin Angal, he is in despair of the rain that stings the windows of the train. Former film student “short films”, he specifies on several occasions, this is his second Cannes festival. Environmental engineer, he wants to return to his first love and has just created his production company. On the program, the film kennedy by director Anurag Kashyap. On the glamorous side, “it is very possible that the actresses Aishwarya Rai and Anushka Sharma will be present this year”, he hopes. The first, muse of a luxury brand, is indeed expected at the Festival.

“Move away, I see nothing”

They are the kings of organization and discipline. They face the steps, the lucky ones just in front of the red carpet. They are recognizable by their stools and folding seats, attached at night with chains. On the sidewalk, with adhesive of different colors, are inscribed their first names in four rows. Slightly out of alignment with the others, Sébastien’s stepladder. He does not despair of finding a better place, once the traffic is diverted and the gates are installed.

Bastien started in 1996 as a photographer. “It was first in front of the Martinez, I was 19 years old. Very quickly, it became impossible to take pictures because of the organizers”. So Sébastien and his friends, nearly thirty that day, early Sunday evening, wait. “Move away, I don’t see anything”, said one “photographer” to another. She assures that she came from Marseille especially to immortalize the climb of the steps with her digital camera. Tall and burly, Sébastien pays no attention to the little crowd.

“I saw Jackie Chan and I didn’t have a camera!”

After dark, there will be rounds to prevent stepladders and seats from disappearing. Today, Sébastien is 42 years old and still has the same passion. “I saw the stars in front of me. It was weird and magical. I saw Cindy Crawford, my childhood dream.” “My best anecdote? I was at the Majestic beach and I met my favorite star until today: Jackie Chan. And, bad luck, I didn’t have my camera! Luckily I I was able to catch up a few days later on the steps”. Sébastien still has a lot of anecdotes in his memory. His best show? “The show star wars in 2018″. Like many collectors, he does not sell his photos.

The weather, this capricious diva

The big star, while waiting for the real ones, is in the sky. Between clearings and rains, the weather makes its cinema. This Monday, May 15, the sun is having fun contradicting the rainy and cloudy forecasts of Météo France. “I don’t remember an edition without rain. It’s part of the game. You have to live with it”, philosopher an (old) colleague, who is nearly 20^e editing. “Covid understood”he insists, adjusting his sunglasses. “For the moment, everything is going well, even if most customers prefer the interior to the terrace in the evening. It is slightly chilly for us, but not for the Parisians! We are expecting more customers from Tuesday. Everything is ready, we even hired extras”, notes Hervé, owner of a restaurant a few minutes from the Palace.

Impatience rises among amateur photographers. “Roll out the carpet!”, launches, with an infectious laugh, a collector of photos to the security agents. See you Tuesday afternoon for the climb of the steps.